Students Protest the Budget & Changes to Tertiary Education

On the 16th of May, University of Auckland
students are protesting changes to the Tertiary Education
system.

Jak Davys, commerce student, says "Education is a
pathway to a fair and equal society. National’s cuts to
tertiary education undermine that pathway by making access
to education a privilege for those who can afford
it.

"Since 2009, inflation-adjusted funding for tertiary
education has decreased by 8.7% ($400 million) and at the
same time numbers of students have increased by 20,000.This
means that less money is spent per student, deteriorating
the quality of education."

Dayvs says that students are
frustrated by increasing tuition fees and debt. He is
concerned about how he will afford to pay for postgraduate
study. "The cuts to student allowances for postgraduate
study and increased the loan repayment threshold to 12% have
made it really difficult for me. I’m not alone, in 2013,
postgraduate enrolments decreased by 7.1% at Auckland
Uni."

"When 15% of students are experiencing absolute
financial distress and others are struggling to get
financial access to the university, we can no longer say
tertiary education policy is working." Davys is encouraging
students to join him in protest on the 16th of May at
11:00am outside the University of Auckland
Library.

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